FW puffer(s) for a 55 gal. tank?

[Ravenia]

Hello!

I have a beautiful, young (around 3") T. cutcutia in a 35 gal. tank, a T. cochinchinensis (approx. 2.5") in a 45 gal. tank, as well as 6 dwarf puffers in a 20 gal. I've been completely won over by the puffers, such personalities. I can't get over how much they watch me when I am in view of the tanks.

Anyhow, I have a 55 gal. fw tank, well established over the past 2.5 or so years that has become available for restocking. I was hoping perhaps some of you could give me some good suggestions on a variety of puffer that would be well suited to a heavily planted 55 gal. I really like the T. cutcutia especially, he's sooo interactive and cute. But I am afraid of keeping two together as I don't want to have puffer on puffer carnage, and it seems that a 55 gal tank for a single T. cutcutia would be somewhat of a waste of space.

Any suggestions? I was thinking of a pair of South American Puffer (Colomesus asellus) but I cannot find a source to purchase these from. Does anyone here keep a pair of T. cutcutia together?

Thanks for any tips!

[Bred]

My vote is for 3-5 SAPs. They'd love it! You might even see some schooling behaviour.

[Ravenia]

Thanks for the advice Bred! wow, 3-5 in one tank, that would be cool. By chance do you know of any reputable online sources to get this kind of puffer from?

Thanks again!

[Bred]

SAPs are pretty common on import lists... My preference would be to place a special-order at your local fish store before exploring the online option. But aquabid.com is a popular choice for that. I don't know of any others, truth told... Haven't really looked into it.

[Pamela]

You could open a dwarf puffer theme park in a tank that size. Or do you just not fancy them?
Pami.
Duuhh...I just reread your first post....you've already got DPs. I'm a gawp.

[Bred]

By the way, whereabouts are you located?

[Ravenia]

Hi people,

Bred, I actually talked to the LFS a month or longer ago about SAPs but they don't seem to have a source for them either. They rarely if ever have puffers of any kind. I'm in rural Idaho... there's not much to pick from around here.

Pamela, LOL re: a dwarf theme park. Great mental image. It's def. not out of the realm of possibility, they are such nifty little guys. but I admit to being pretty taken with the somewhat larger-than-dwarf sized puffs, and since this is a little larger tank than dwarfs need... well, you know.

[Primus]

I have a 55 gallon with 3 SAP's, 2 otto's, a rubber nosed pleco and a kuli loach. The SAP's are very fun to watch and do "school" together pretty much all the time. They never seem to stop moving!

I would highly suggest SAPS in a 55, not sure if there would be a difference if you had them in a smaller tank but they seem very happy in the 55. I have considered getting 1 or 2 more of them not sure if that would be too much though.

[chriscenter1]

have you checked out irrubescos? Those seem like they would be pretty neat to me.

[Ravenia]

hi Primus, I like the thought of keeping a few other fish in one tank. I still have a few dwarf bristlenoses, and a zigzag eel in that 55 gal. tank. I could move them if need be (and had figured on doing that if I get some puffers in there). But if I can find some SAPs for that tank, it would be nice to leave the plecos and eel in there with them.

Chriscenter1, I have seen pics only of the T. irrubescos, they are gorgeous. My problem is that I don't have much to pick from in LFS around here and puffers of nearly any kind (with the very occasional exception of Figure 8s and GSPs) are just never seen. I've asked about getting other sorts in but so far no go on that. I've gotten all of my puffers (8 fish from 3 diff. species so far) from online sources. I've not been able to find a single good online resource for a variety of puffers, the best experience I have had so far is with the aquariumfish.net site (where I got the T. cutcutia from). They have a few diff. puffers but no real huge variety in stock right now.

I have also just ordered a male/female pair of Carinotetraodon lorteti yesterday. I understand they are more aggressive than the irrubescos though. I was hoping to keep these two lortetis together in a 29 gal. tank (heavily planted). Do you think this would be acceptable or will they need something larger? From what I have read about C. lorteti, they only grow to approx. 3 inches max. I have a few well-established tanks going that I will either house puffers in soon, or break down for storage. So if a 29 is not sufficient for the C. lorteti, I could dedicate a 45 gal. to them... what do you all think? Or, am I being foolish in thinking that a pair of these puffers can live together in one tank without carnage between them? I can house them separately without any big issues if need be.

Thanks again everyone, it is really wonderful for me to be able to seek advice from you all who are experienced with puffers. I'm grateful for this forum.

[Pufferpunk]

If heavily decorated, with a lot of broken lines of sight, they may do ok in there. Just keep a close eye on them.

[Myaj]

I don't know how they handle their puffers, but I've heard lots of good reports from people who ordered fish online from http://www.fish2u.com. I think they sometimes carry SAP's.

Definately try to get some ordered in locally, even if you have to make a drive to get them. Those shipping costs are really high.

[Feathers&Fins]

I'm in a rural location also. I tried speical ordering from my lfs but their livestock quality is very poor, and therefore, short lived. All of bw Puffs and sw livestock I now have came from online sources. Shipping is expensive but worth it in my case. I've ordered from aquariumfish.net, liveaquaria.com, and FishyFishy (sales@fishyfishy.net). Last I checked, FishyFishy did not have their website up but they frequently sell on aquabid.com under the username, "ffn". If all else fails you can drop them an email. They are good at finding Puffs. Good luck.

[Ravenia]

Thank you everyone for the info and suggestions. I was getting the tank all ready for the C. lorteti pair which I expected to receive last week. I was later contacted by the seller and told they were out of stock. however, they had some 'wonderful looking' SAPs available now. I got excited, and ordered 4 for the 55 gal. Then a few days later after not hearing anything back, I called and talked to someone on the phone at aquariumfish.net... and was told that the SAPs were 'pea sized' and not of shippable size.

However, I was also told that they now have Tetraodon palembangens and Tetraodon suvattii puffers in stock. So, now I am expecting a T. palembangens to arrive this coming week. Is a 55 gal. tank going to be sufficient for the fish as s/he matures? I understand it is approx. 3-4 inches long at the moment but have read that it could mature to 8 inches long. Obviously it is going to be only fish in that tank..

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate all the suggestions and tips.

[RTR]

The Palembang's puffer will love the 55. I have mine in a 40-long (very close to the same footprint but less tall), and the fish appears quite comfortable. It is unlikely to make much use of the full height of the tank, but the extra water volume will make maintaining good water quality easier for you. These are very elegant puffers.